THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1982. The Maori roll option

Press, 10 March 1982, Page 20

THE PRESS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1982. The Maori roll option

Complaints about the cost of posting forms that give New Zealand Maoris the opportunity to decide whether to be on the Maori or the general electoral roll miss the point of the exercise. Usually, the opportunity will be given at the time of the five-yearly census. Only when a census and an election fall in the same year — as they did in 1981 — is such a special exercise necessary in the following year. To ensure that all those entitled to make the choice were given a distinct opportunity to do so, Parliament judged that there was no practicable alternative to sending out cards to all on the country’s electoral rolls. Wasteful as it must have seemed to those who consigned the cards immediately to a waste-paper basket, it is important for all Maoris to be given the chance to choose which roll they will be on. Annoyance at the supposed waste should not be allowed to cast doubt on the worth of the exercise.

Many people who complain about the procedures used to keep the Maori rolls accurate and up-to-date would be quick to complain if the same services were not provided, as they are, for them to keep their entry on the general rolls also accurate and up-to-date. The provision of forms, and their wide distribution for the checking of rolls is an accepted and welcome process. For so long as the Maori roll is retained, it should be a good roll.

Those Maoris who are anxious to see Maori representation in Parliament maintained, or strengthened, are urging their fellow Maoris to register on the Maori rolls. To such Maoris, the Maori seats are an important symbol of Maori determination to maintain a separate identity and an important means of bringing pressure to bear on the Government to heed Maori wishes and concerns. The view may be mistaken; it is nevertheless real.

The time may come when almost all Maoris themselves opt, in effect, to merge their identities with those of other New Zealanders and to abolish the Maori seats by choosing to place, their names on the general rolls. (In fact, a majority do so already.) In the eyes of many Maoris it is neither likely nor desirable that all but a tiny minority of Maoris will make this choice.

Recent changes in Maori attitudes suggest a greater determination among Maoris to retain their distinctive identity in a multi-cultural society and this may well be expressed in an increase in the number of Maoris choosing to go on the Maori rolls. This determination is something that the rest of the community should respect and endeavour to accommodate, even if the cost of doing so is considerable.

. The cost may not be as high as some imagine. The printing and addressing of forms must be at a substantial cost; their

delivery is additional work, but not necessarily additional expense for (the Post Office. The processing of returned forms will be no more onerous than the legitimate demand for enrolment requires.

If fault can be found in the way in which Maoris are being offered the option this year it might be that there has been little opportunity for Maoris to discuss the implications of their choice. The period in which the option must be exercised is from March 1 to April 30. This is fair enough. Most people know their minds on such issues without public debate. Some restraint on the time allowed. for the choice is essential because the Electoral Representation Commission can begin to sort out new seat boundaries only when the results of the Maori option are known. The numbers of Maoris choosing to go on either roll 'can have a marked effect on the boundaries of the four Maori seats and on the number and boundaries of the general seats.

An argument can be raised in favour of allowing more time and more consultation and debate, if it is accepted that the choice is a matter of political strategy. Had the period in which the option could be exercised been extended by Parliament by several months, the implications of the choice could be discussed through district Maori councils, on local maraes, and in other Maori organisations. It is part, indeed, of Maori tradition to talk about such important issues at .considerable length before the group, or the community as a whole, decides what to do. The opportunity for such consideration Has existed since Parliament passed amendments to the Electoral Act in October, 1980. The process was defined then and the way Has long been open for Maori leadership, including Maori members of Parliament, to make what they would of the choice. They have presumably done so, and may Continue until the end of April.

Whatever criticisms can be .made of how the option has been offered to Maoris this year, it is important to continue to allow the option to be exercised, certainly no less frequently than each four or five years. It leaves the choice of whether there should ,be separate Maori representation where it rightly belongs — with the Maoris themselves. Parliament would do wrong to sweep Maori representation aside, or to refuse to increase the number of Maori seats if large numbers of the many Maoris at present on the general rolls choose to transfer their names to the Maori rolls. The correct estimation of seats must be made, of course, not on the numbers on the rolls, but on the population (children and young people included) that the electors represent.. This is a difficult calculation — essentially..a guess — especially when the definition of a‘ Maori elector is itself vague.